Edge-tool.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

J. E. EATON.

EDGE TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED snmnn, 1903.

NO MODEL.

Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT EETcE.

JAMES E. EATON, OF COLLINSVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

EDGE- TOOL- SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,858,dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed September 1'7, 1903. Serial No. 173,504. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES E. EATON, a citizen of the United States,residing in Collinsville, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEdge-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of edge-tools, and especiallyto that class of edgetools which includes axes, hatchets, and analogouscutting implements.-

In the manufacture of axes heretofore it has generally been customary tomake the poll of iron or steel of a certain quality and to make the bitof a steel of such a quality that it will receive and retain a cuttingedge. The bit has been attached to the poll in some instances by makinga cleft in the poll and inserting a tongue or web of the bit and thenwelding down the flaps of the poll over the bit portion, suchflapsoverlying to a large extent the body of the bit and extending toward itscutting edge. Another method of the application of the bit-steel hasbeen to make a shell or overcoat to overlie the extended end of the pollpiece, which would thereby make a part of the bit, so that in realitythe bit of the ax would be organized of a piece of iron plated with ashell of steel. In both of these forms of construction objection isfound, and it is the purpose of the present improvement to provide an axwherein the cutting edge will be carried by a bit having a comparativelywide amount of clear metal and wherein the weld or seam between such bitportion and the poll portion will occupy considerable surface area, butwill be restricted to a comparatively small longitudinal region and onewherein the lapping of the metal of the bit over the metal of the pollwill give a consid-- erable extent of surface for such welding, althoughin a restricted zone.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification aform of my invention is illustrated, wherein Figure 1 is a side view ofan ax-head. Fig. 2 is a perspective thereof, looking at the same from aback corner. Fig. 3 represents a central cross-section. Fig. 4 is aperspective of a form of stock for the bit, and Fig. 5 is a detail incross-section showing the initial application of the bit-stock to thepoll portion.

Axes as generally constituted will comprise a poll (designated in ageneral way by 10)having therethrough an eye 11 for a handle and a bit(designated in a general way by 12) which will have a cutting edge 13.In carrying out my invention a suitable stock-blank, a form of which isillustrated in Fig. t, may be provided and which is shown as comprisinga stock portion 14 to make the major portion and cutting edge of thebit. From the stock portion are shown projecting at the sides andrunning longitudinally thereofa pair of flaps 15 15. The stock portionalso carries a web 16, running longitudinally thereof and centrallydisposed relative to the flaps. The portions 16 will be when thecompleted ax is presented an insert in the poll portion, and the wingsor flaps 15 will act as an overcoat overlying the poll. The poll is seenas having a central cleft 17. Upon each side of the cleft are seen ribsor wings 18 to receive between them in the cleft the rib or wing 16 ofthe bit, and on each side of such wings 18 the wings or flaps 15 will bebent down and welded in any suitable manner. In the finished tool theinserted web 16 will extend toward the eye from the edge. and theoutside or overlying flaps 15 will also project toward such eye and fromthe edge. 1 It will be seen that the space or length between the upperpoints of the bit-flaps and the downward points of the poll-flaps isshort compared with the entire length from the cutting edge to the eyeand that the distance from the points of the poll-flaps to such cuttingedge is also greater compared with the same length. By reference to Fig.3 the upper line of the bitflaps is represented by 20 and the lower lineof the poll-flaps by 21. The line of the cutting edge is represented by22, here shown as a'point from which the lines 20 and 21 are struck, theline of the edge of course being transverse to the section-line of thisfigure. The lines of juncture will in practice vary, as is well known inthe art of metal-working.

The terms up and down have been used herein for greater ease indescription, such terms being suggested by the position the drawingoccupies on the sheetL In the ordinary overcoat method of applying asteel bit to an iron body-piece in the manufacture of this class ofedge-tools the sides of the poll or body-piece form a relatively obtuseangle, and it will be evident, considering the nature of the materialsemployed,

especially when in condition for welding, that a blow applied, forinstance, about midway of the edges of the weld will by reason of theobtuseness of said angle tend to cause the material in the projectingportion of the bodypiece to flow outwardly that is, away from thebit-this result being due to thehigh degree of mobility of the metal,especially the middle of the body-piece, which is in such cases usuallythe softer portion, the result of this actionbeing to cause the metal atthe extreme end of-the body-piece to draw away from the bottom of thebit-space rather than to entirely fill the same uniformly and evenly inall cases. As a result of such defective action the space which isusually present between the end of the body-piece and the bottom of thecleft in the bit when the parts are assembled for welding. is sometimesnot entirely filled, so causing a weakness of the edge of the tool andalso causing a space which is liable to be opened up in the grinding of,the tool when it is worn away far back from the original edge. In thisconnection it will be remembered that in this class of edge-tools it isan ordinary practice to repeatedly forge and retemper the edge of thetool, especially in cases of aXes and heavy knives. For overcoming theobjections to which I have referred I provide the overcoat form of bit(indicated in a general way by l t) with a supplemental flange portion16, located about midway of the two overcoat-flanges 15 of thebit-blank. When such a bit-piece is applied to the body-piece 10-as, forinstance, in Fig. 5, wherein it has a cleft 17, forming its edge intotwo flaps 23 23, the said supplemental or central flange 16 beingrelatively' thin and the sides 24 2 L of the body piece or portionconsidered in relation to the central flange forming comparatively acuteangles an immediate result is to reduce the angle of the space betweensaid center flange and of the respective walls 2 24: to a relativelysmall angle materially more acute than the angle of the walls of thebody-piece in a tool made according to the original overcoat form ofconstruction. The result of this is to reduce by a substantial amount insuch a case as indicated the tendency of the body portion to be drivenout of the bit by the blow of the welding hammer or die. In thisconnection it will be noted that the result of the welding operation ismodified by the adhesion of a portion of the engaging surfaces when theWelding action first begins, so that with my improved construction theinitial adhesion of the surfaces takes place at the beginning of the dieaction, whereby as the parts are welded together the welding action.operates upon a thinner mass of metal-that is, upon a thinner projectionof the bodypiece--so that the distance through which the flowage-and theforce applied to the bodypiece is much less, and the consequentintensity and the certainty of the forging action is correspondinglyincreased. The result of these features of my present invention is tomaterially assist in so joining together the two parts of the tool as tocause the edges of the projecting flanges of the body-pieceto normallyflow partly outwardly and partly inwardly of the bit-blank spaces, thustending to entirely fill the spaces 25 25 and 17 at the bottom of theclefts in the respective portions being welded and so operating tofacilitate the mak ing of a perfect weld throughout the entire length ofthe juncture between said portions of the too].

By this form of construction the space consumed by the flap is small orshort, but the area wherein the metal meets the other in the weld iscomparatively large. There is by this means given a large amount ofclear edge-receiving metal, and the edge or flaps of such metal Wherethey join the poll overlying the same and projecting toward the eye givea large surface of the hard metal upon the outside of such sides fromthe edge upward as large as or larger than the face given by what iskno'wn as the "overcoat construction of ax, but with a larger amount ofsuch metal to wear down in repeated sharpenings, and it will also beseen that the central portion of the bit enters the poll and is as faras or farther from the cutting edge than the similar portions of what isknown as the inserted bit, whereby not only does this present theadvantages of both of such forms of construction, but it presents itsown peculiar advantages without any of the disadvantages of such otherconstructions and produces an aX the edgecarrying portion of which is ofa greater length and will permit of more frequent sharpenings than thosemade by the various methods heretofore employed.

Although the drawings herein illustrate the practical application ofthis invention in connection with an ax, yet it will be apparent that itis capable of incorporation into many forms of edge-tools, and I do notlimit myself to any one tool.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A tool having bit andpoll of metal of different characteristics, the bit having a tongue orweb and flaps the tongue extending into the poll for some distance andthe flaps overlying the poll and extending on the outside thereofsubstantially as far as does the tongue on the inside.

2. In an aX or similar to0l,the combination with a poll having an eye,of an edge-carrying bit having flaps overlapping the poll toward lIO theeye and welded thereto, a web from-the bit entering the poll and weldedthereto, its area of weld being equal to the area of weld of the flaps,the poll being provided with a pair of flaps located between therespective flaps on the bit and the web, whereby a comparatively largearea is embraced in the welded juncture in a comparatively short Zone.

8. An ax or similar tool comprising a bit having two comparative longlips lapped and welded over the poll, and a web entering the poll andwelded thereto, the area of the weld of the web being substantiallyequal to that of the welded area of the lips.

4. The combination with an ax or similar tool having a poll providedwith an eye, of an edge-carrying bit having flaps overlapping the sidesof the poll and welded thereto, the direction of the lap being towardthe eye of the poll and away from the edge of the bit, a web from thebit entering the poll for some distance, welded thereto, extending inthe general direction of the outside lips and having a welded areasubstantially equal to that of the lips, and acomparatively longedge-receiving portion clear of the metal of the poll.

5. The combination with an ax or similar tool havinga poll provided withan eye, of an edge-carrying bit having portions overlapping the sides ofthe poll and Welded thereto, the direction of the lap being toward theeye and away from the edge, and a web from the bit entering the poll andextending in the general direction of the laps and having a welded areasubstantially equal to that of the laps.

6. An ax or similar tool comprising a bit and a poll welded thereto, thepoll having two comparatively long lips of substantially equal area, andthe bit having three comparatively long lips of substantially equalarea, one interposed between the lips of the poll andthe othersoverlapping the same.

7 As an article of manufacture, a blank for an ax or similar tool bitcomprising a stock portion, a longitudinal flap carried by each sidethereof and having a face adapted to be welded to a poll, and alongitudinal web carried by the stock and disposed centrally thereof andof the flaps and having faces adapted to be welded to said poll andsubstantially equal in welding area to the welding area of said flaps.

8. An edged tool comprising a welded bit and poll each of a differentgrade of metal, the bit havinga substantial web projecting into a cleftor recess in the poll and overlapped by a pair of substantial webs ofsuch poll and having a pair of flaps of substantial length exteriorlyoverlapping the webs of such poll, the structure being such that thetool may be sharpened to a greater extent without eliminating thelap-joint than if a web of the poll projected centrally into the bit,and having prior to such extended sharpening a superior exterior surfacefor a greater part of its area than if the poll exteriorly overlappedthe bit.

JAMES E. EATON.

Witnesses:

BENJ. F. OAsE, M. J. MOFARLAND.

